Astronomy song

Today we were learning about 2 important people involved in astronomy. I am the type of person that always tries to think of ways to help myself remember certain things. Example: for the Great Lakes I spell 'HOMES' (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior)......things like that. Sometimes I get really creative and come up with a song...like today. We learned about Nicolas Copernicus who thought that the earth revolved around the sun, while everyone else thought the sun revolved around the earth. Then Galileo came along and proved it further by inventing the telescope. I wanted the kids to remember this so I sat and came up with this little song....the kids loved it :)
Nicolas Copernicus
a smart man we have found
He thought the sun stayed in one spot
while earth did go around.
Galileo, he believed
and sought to prove him right
He built a telescope to see
the sky above at night.

12 years

Twelve years ago today I married an amazing man and friend. These past 12 years have been truly wonderful. Every year I appreciate more and more what God has done for me in giving me such a special partner in life. I tear up just thinking about how blessed I have been to share my life with someone who loves me the way my husband does. No, he is not a perfect man, but he strives to please God and in doing so he desires to love me with an unconditional, tender, compassionate love. We share something so very special and I thank God for loving me so much to give me someone like my husband. Happy Anniversary Babe! I love you with all my heart.

Sand

Again....love posting unique and interesting things. What amazing talent!!

Solar System

Today we looked at our solar system. We wanted to get as close to scale as we could. Our sun still could have been bigger but we ran out of construction paper. It could have used at least one more row of paper!! We learned all the names of the planets in order and looked at their size compared to the sun. We also set up the planets as they would look orbiting the sun. The kids had a lot of fun. Here are some pics and videos. The last video is one we watched to show just how small we are in the universe. How awesome our God is!!!
planets in order

set up as they would rotate around the sun
(you can't see the circles drawn on the board)

Giveaway

Another great giveaway from Simply Vintage Girl.....go check it out and enter for your chance to win!

Denim skirt

Last night around 10:45pm I had a wee bit of inspiration :) I've been looking for a nice but inexpensive denim skirt for our daughter. She loves wearing dresses/skirts and denim just looks so nice. Alas, I haven't been able to find one. I remember she had asked me what to do with a pair of capris that had 2 big holes in the knees......I told her just to put them back in her drawer for now. Lightbulb!!! Can I transform it into a skirt???
So as always, I hop on youtube and search out how-to videos and voila. "How to turn a pair of jeans into a skirt".......yay!
I absolutely love the results (just not the fact the my sewing machine is now broken. It's been going on the fritz for a little while and I think it finally died )
Here's some pics and we had one happy girl this morning!!
cut above the holes

take apart stitching along seam of inside legs

use the extra pieces of pant leg that were cut off to fill in the gap in the front and on the back


sew


a skirt!!
....and Olivia was born yesterday just after 4pm! Welcome to the family (my 4th niece)

Constellations

I've been suffering with laryngitis since Saturday. School has been pretty much seat work so I can save my voice. I did manage to get a small portion of science in yesterday. We were talking about the stars and constellations and we thought it would be fun to make our own constellation on the kids ceiling. We picked up some glow-in-the-dark stars and the kids took turns on Daddy's shoulders trying to make a picture. The photos don't really show it well (and I couldn't get a shot of them with the lights off) but it did look really neat!

Also, remember my sister in prayer. She will be having their 3rd child maybe today/tomorrow. We pray for the safe arrival of Olivia :)

School memory albums

Just a suggestion for mom's with school aged kids. Do you have a school memory album? My mom had one for me and my siblings. It has a place to put all your kids info like height, weight, etc, a place for their picture, their signature, likes and dislikes, friends, a pocket to keep special reports and work/coloring pages from the year. What a great way to hold onto these years that just seem to fly by!!!
I don't have a specific album to recommend. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the one I got for our oldest, but it unfortunately is out of print. I bought a different one for our son, but am not totally thrilled with it. I will be getting a different one for our next child..... Here are a few suggestions though.
(I like the albums that go from K-12, some albums only go up to grade 8)

School album from Lillian Vernon

School album2 from Lillian Vernon

School album3

Musical couple

I love sharing videos that make you smile :) Here is a couple, married for 62 years, that walk into a Mayo clinic and spot a piano. He will be 90 this year.

Teaching creation

We have started our science for the year out of Apologia's Exploring Creation with Astronomy. Our daughter LOVES science, and astronomy is one of her favorites! Day one in science of course covered the six days of creation. Here is an interesting, easy way to teach these six days to your kids.
Divide your paper into 3 different sections.
Section 1 - we draw light/darkness (Day 1).
Section 2 we draw the waters divided, sky/sea (Day 2)
Section 3 we draw dry land/vegetation (Day 3).

Now with red, we go back and add to our pictures.
Section 1 - we draw the stars, sun, moon (Day 4)
Section 2 - we draw the flying and sea creatures (Day 5)
Section 3 - we draw the land animals and Adam/Eve (Day 6)

This makes it easy to keep the days in order!!

Some good reads

I just realized today that if my children were in public school, I would have had 2 less children in the house today! Hard to believe my boy would have been heading off to kindergarten. Makes me so very thankful that I have the opportunity and privilege to teach them :)

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. I'm working through Passionate Housewives Desperate for God - excellent read so far (you can find it much cheaper on ebay or amazon)! I also finished Already Gone which was a definite eye-opener!!! Whoa! Hubby is now working his way through it. Ladies, if you want a truly great read, go get Intimate Issues. I bought mine for 25 cents (plus shipping) off of amazon after I heard a lady talking about it on her blog. Every Christian wife should read it. Wonderfully written!!!

Hubby and I will be celebrating our 12th anniversary the end of the month. The Lord has wonderfully blessed me with such an amazing mate and friend....but I'll save all that gushy stuff for the end of the month *grin*.

On the move

She's officially a crawler now :) It's hard to believe our oldest was walking at this age!! She is also attempting to pull herself up. She will crawl over to the couch and reach her hand up to try and grab the cushion. She also has her 2 front teeth! (that's 4 altogether now). Oh she's a growin'.........

Have you given your loved ones a hug today?

Here's a tear-jerker for you. Be sure to enjoy every moment with your loved ones!

I'm assuming the book of Moses is Mormon or something?? I had to laugh at myself because I didn't catch it the first time I saw it :)

Chicken wings

This is not a post about food :) Today we have been dealing with some heart issues with our children. Defiance and submission. I pulled out For Instruction in Righteousness to help guide me to some scripture passages, and then we talked about the importance of chicken wings.
Baby chicks stay very close to mama hen, huddling under her chicken wing for protection. If a baby chick wanders away from mama hen and no longer has that protection, it can face danger and death.
God has given our children their own chicken wing to stay under for protection....Mommy and Daddy. If a child stays close under their parents authority, they have protection and guidance to help them fight against the devil and their sin nature. If that child chooses to go out from their parents authority and wander out on their own (self-will), they lose that protection and are open to the devil's attack.
Children, stay close under Mommy's wing. I am here to help guide you, and train you in the ways of the Lord. Do not flee from under Mommy's wing and leave yourself vulnerable to Satan's attack.
(**I bought my book For Instruction in Righteousness off of ebay for much cheaper!**)

More pool

Our 2 year old is finally comfortable in the water, enough so that he sat flat on the bottom today (big improvement from yesterday!) Our daughter also did really well holding her breath and staying under water. She got up to 6 seconds submerged and was excited. They convinced Daddy to get in with them too and he had just as much fun :)

Pool fun

A nice way to spend a hot afternoon.

A-B-C- sounds

He's almost got it!! The G and U always give him trouble :)

(2 years old)

c'rrrrrrrrr'ying

You've been waiting for this post....I know you have. I've been waiting in anticipation to post it.....it was just a matter of time....Don't get too excited though......
It is cold #8.....8 months and 8 colds. I actually was anticipating this one because the kids were around cousins with colds (yes, I'm blaming you guys *smile*).

Other than that, not a whole lot new is happening around here. Our baby girl has started some new things though. She is finally starting to say some sounds in an attempt to talk. Right now we are hearing 'ba, ba' but a few times I think she came close to saying 'ma, ma'. She's also doing something new when she cries. It is the oddest sound!! She does something really weird with her tongue.....kind of like when you try to roll an 'r' (brrrrrrrrilliant). I caught it on video because I knew you would want to hear it :)


taken right as she was squealing...so funny!!)

Getting ready to crawl

She's getting ready to crawl! It won't be too much longer. She also has her third tooth coming in...this one on the top. I can hear them grinding together and it gives me shivers!! Next week she'll be 8 months old....wow! Here are some pics from the previous week.